


It was just my luck that the day a Beautiful Girl wanted to sit on my lap I had to be dressed as an elderly, obese Toy-Maker.

by kozumis



Category: Free!
Genre: Christmas, F/M, MakoGouXMas2014, Secret Santa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-25
Updated: 2014-12-25
Packaged: 2018-03-03 12:43:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2851211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kozumis/pseuds/kozumis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For the MakoGouXmas2014 Secret Santa exchange run by digitalsoop. For tumblr user missing-wall-e.</p><p>Gou, a college student, decides to sit on Santa's lap for a picture as a joke. Makoto wasn't expecting someone his age to sit on his lap when he agreed to work as a mall santa. He wasn't expecting to end up with a crush on anyone either.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It was just my luck that the day a Beautiful Girl wanted to sit on my lap I had to be dressed as an elderly, obese Toy-Maker.

“Santa!”

Tiny feet clad in bright blue winter boots took off suddenly. The plastic coated soles easily lost their traction along the freshly waxed tiled floor and sent the rambunctious toddler to fall flat on his face. His tumble earned a few concerned gasps as well as an exuberant giggle from a young girl, but despite the nose-crushing force he had just experienced the tyke got back onto his feet to continue his quest. Petite arms crashed into my velveteen-covered legs in a few more strides, his pink face burying itself into the stark red fabric. “Santa! Santa! Santa!” He chanted while bouncing excitably against my shin.

“Oh ho ho!” I cheered from the pit of my stomach while ruffling the youngster’s dark hair through thick gloves. He turned his face upwards, showing off a few missing teeth as he grinned up to me. It was lucky that there wasn’t already another kid on my lap at that moment. I took a knee besides the boisterous child and held him by the shoulders. “Hello, young lad,” I bellowed joyfully, my lips curling beneath the faux white beard. “What’s your name?”

“Ono Yutō!” He said gleefully, stepping back and putting some space between our faces.

“Ono-kun, is it?” I repeated, to make sure I heard him correctly. Then, with a finger, I pointed his attention to the queue of children and parents waiting patiently for a chance to snap a photograph with the impersonator. “Well, Ono-kun, there are plenty other kids who are just as excited to see me.” His head turned frantically from my face to the crowd standing between two cloth queue dividers. “Be a good boy and get in line.” Yutō spent no time dwelling at my side, darting to join his mother at the hand and taking their place at the end.

Naturally, dressing up as an overweight elderly folk tale character was not my ideal way to spend a midweek break. University payments were piling up and options within the part-time job pool were beginning to dry up. The time I spent in-class took up most of my week already, but combining it with the many hours my current part-time occupation consumed as well as the time eaten up by out-of-class assignments left me high and dry. This position wasn’t even my idea in the first place; I had never even heard of a “mall santa” until I spent my first winter season here in Tokyo. Despite this ridiculous get-up (that included a rather warm padded stomach) and the obvious humiliation I took the job because the pay was extremely generous. For the next week I will be sitting on a plastic candy-coated throne for one-thousand and two-hundred yen an hour.

It wasn’t all completely unpleasant; I got to work with children the entire time. Interacting and getting along with young kids was one of my strong suits. My colleagues said that it was because of my calm face and soothing presence, but my closer friends had reasoned that it was my mother-like behavior (which bothered me, since my height and stature do not suggest even the slightest hint of femininity). Despite these things I prided myself on being able to successfully work with children. The best that I could have done in this situation was to look at it as if it were experience preparing me for the many years of involvement to come.

My eyes followed Yutō up until the moment his tiny hands interlocked with his mother's to make sure that he made his way safely. Once I was confident he was in the right hands I moved back to my cheap cathedra. It creaked as my full weight settled atop the seat. The disconcerting noise caused me to cringe inwardly, a bit embarrassed at how poor the set-up was. Of course the younger audience probably could not tell the difference between this venue and other displays at wealthier malls, but even with that in mind I was still slightly abashed. I tried my hardest to push my distressed thoughts to the back of my brain as I turned my attention to the front of the line.

Intense burgundy greeted my vision immediately, drawing in all of my interest. There was only one other person I knew with such a striking, vibrant head of hair. This bundle was a lot different than the other in the manner that it was long and straight with on final wave at the destination of the wearer’s waist. Mildly styled bangs framed fiery crimson eyes and milky white skin clear of any blemishes or imperfections. She was a beautiful young woman who looked like she was fresh out of high school. Around her was a youthful glow that was steady even beneath the harsh fluorescent mall lighting. Besides her was an equally charming damsel with milk chocolate hair and watery sage eyes. Her glamour was subtle, childish even, unlike her friend’s allure. The two of them were turned towards the director at the beginning of the queue that filed patrons to me. In the hands of the second girl there was a bright green cell phone with multiple vibrant charms connected to the jack. They jingled joyously as she bounced on the balls of her feet impatiently. “We’ll only be a second, promise!” She begged with a mushy expression. “Just one picture is all!”

It was obvious that the man was growing irritated with their pleas; when he rolled his eyes they looked as if they were trying to reach the innermost areas of his skull. The cloth divider entrance was unhooked with a sigh as he reluctantly agreed to allow the duo to snap a quick photo.

I wish I could say that I was just as good as speaking with girls as I was with children, but, sadly, it was the complete opposite. Looking back on the event I might have had a chance if it were not for the distasteful costume I was wearing. As the character of Santa it would be inappropriate to come on to young college girls, especially in front of many eager children. It was just my luck that the day a beautiful girl wanted to sit on my lap I had to be dressed as an elderly, obese toy-maker.

The sweetheart with brilliant red hair was the one who made the break for me. I felt guilty for hoping that she would be the one to sit with me, but brushed it off with the reasoning that it was simply because she was more my type. With each lively step she took towards me her ponytail swung back and forth. Bright eyes matched an even shinier grin as she settled down upon my thigh. I felt my stomach take an unexpected flip-- because of her beauty or out of nervousness due to proximity, I was not entirely sure-- and my palms began to sweat beneath the thick, non-breathable fibers of my gloves. The other girl took her place a few meters away from where we were sitting. Her phone was open and poised for the picture, but before she pressed in the capture button she called out to her friend. "Gou-chan, strike a pose or something!" 

"It's Kou!"

Even her voice was appealing. She sounded particularly annoyed at the mix up between the two names; and she was rightfully so. The name Gou was far too brutish and masculine for someone as delicate as her. Kou, I assumed her proper name was, turned towards me a bit after dismissing her buddy. She was all the more cute up-close! From here I could see the length at which her thick eyelashes flared out (I also took note of how full her flushed pink lips were for good measure). Our eyes locked for a moment and the glob of saliva that had collected in my throat caught in my airway, causing me to let out a few stuttering coughs. My slip-up did not seem to bother her too much and instead of acknowledging it she just moved on to her own point. "Hold up peace signs with me, Santa-san," she chirped while demonstrating with lithe fingers that were topped with blue-tipped nails.

Hesitantly I brought both of my hands up from their previous position at my sides, careful not to accidentally glance any part of her body. It was a little tough to bend my fingers with the dense lining that was surrounding them. My signs were held on either side of her and when she deemed them good enough she turned back towards the phone camera. The brunette student gave us a thumbs-up before ordering a "Say [Merry Christmas]!"

We both let out a tiny cheer (mine being significantly weaker and less enthusiastic due to my nerves) as the mini flash of her phone's camera went off. Kou hopped off of my lap easily as soon as the picture was snapped. She smoothed out her skirt once she reached her friend and fixed the short, pleated hemline that had wrinkled from sitting. I felt ashamed for hoping that she would linger a bit longer atop my thigh. My gaze watched her for a moment as she looked over the photo to see if it was up to her standards.

Eventually the two ladies did send over their goodbye waves before exiting. I sent over a small wave of my own, as well. A part of me wanted to call out to Kou and ask her if she was free some day that week or if she was with anyone at the moment, but seeing as both my surroundings and my attire were quite bizarre I kept my mouth shut. Instead, I simply watched her saunter off deeper into the crowd of the mall. What a huge waste of potential. Without missing a beat I aimed my interests back to the group of anxious rosey faces just dying to participate. I opened my arms for the next child in line, buckling down and chuckling from deep within my gut.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time posting anything here so please be gentle with me..


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